Latch and release device



June 22; 1954 P. L. PAULSEN ET AL 2,681,520

LATCH AND RELEASE DEVICE Filed 001550, 1951 Inventors 1 Paul L. Paulsen Almon D. Emmons;

bg M

Their- Atoorneg.

Patented June 22, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LATCH AND RELEASE DEVICE York Application October 30, 1951, Serial No. 253,916

Claims. 1

The present invention relates to latch and release devices and more specifically to such devices which selectively latch and release a movable member, such as an ironer shoe carriage, in response to movement of an associated member, such as a clothes-supporting rack.

In many domestic appliances, there is a need for an interlocking latching arrangement by which, upon the movement of one member to a predetermined position, one or more additional members are thereafter restrained from movement. Such an arrangement is particularly needed in the case of appliances designed for storage beneath a kitchen counter, appliances having doors which to close must clear certain operating parts, and appliances having covers for the purpose of enclosing the operating mechanism when it is not in use.

An example of the need for such a latching arrangement is found in the case of automatic ironers of the flat-plate type, in which a heated shoe is so carried on a pivotally mounted arm that it can be brought into position above a padded buck for pressing clothes between the two surfaces. The shoe-carrying arm is commonly biased to its open position so that the shoe will fall away from the buck at the end of each operating stroke, in which open position the arm and shoe both extend rearwardly of the ironer supporting table. These ironer tables usually are equipped with box covers for enclosing the shoe, its supporting arm and the buck, when the ironer is not in use. Such covers are so mounted on the ironer table that they can be readily and easily moved out of the way at the beginning of an ironing operation, and can be closed on the ironer table at the termination of the operation. Unless the shoe supporting arm, however, is held in substantially its operating position, a cover of the compact size used would strike either the shoe or arm and be prevented thereby from closing. On the other hand, if the shoe were manually held in its closed position until the cover is put into place, it would then fall back and strike the rear of the cover. Moreover, it would suddenly move to its open position upon removal of the cover, which movement might injure and would certainly startle the operator.

In an effort to overcome this problem some ironers have been provided with a cover having a removable rear panel or a cutout section therein so that the cover can be closed with the shoe and supporting arm in their inoperative positions. Even with such a specially constructed 2 cover, however, the problem is not as satisfactorily solved as it is with a latch and box cover construction because the ironer cannot be stored as close to the Wall, it does not present as neat and compact an appearance, and it is not as fully protected from dust.

A further feature of ilatplate ironers of this type is a rack for supporting laundry after it has been pressed. Since the rack preferably extends beyond the ironer table when in use and therefore must be moved to a folded position before the cover can be closed, the latching arrangement for the ironer shoe supporting arm may be conveniently and economically interlocked with or otherwise operated by this rack movement.

Therefore it is desirable not only that a latch and release means be provided but that it be operated in response to a predetermined movement of the associated laundry supporting rack.

Accordingly it is the principal object of our invention to provide a new and improved latch and release arrangement.

A further object of our invention is to provide a latch. and release device for movable members in which movement of one member to a predetermined position causes latching of an associated member.

Another object of our invention is to provide a latch arrangement for use on automatic ironers in which the ironer shoe supporting arm may be releasably held in a predetermined position to permit closing of an ironer cover.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one embodiment of our invention, we combine the desirable feature of a clothes rack mounted on an ironer table with the engaging and releasing means for a latching device arranged to hold the shoe supporting arm is a closed position to permit closing of an ironer cover. The clothes rack may be fixed to a pintle rotatably mounted on. the upper surface of the ironer table. Attached to an extension of the pintle below the table surface may be a cam member, positioned to engage one end of an actuating lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the under-surface of the table. Consequently, upon movement of the clothes rack to its storage position, directly above the table top, the cam will move the actuating lever in a predetermined direction.

The latching means may consist of a latching member carried on the shoe supporting arm and a latching bar slidably mounted on the ironer table to permit it to be moved into engagement with the latching member. The latching bar is biased out of engagement with the latch member by a spring attached at one end to the ironer table and at its other end to the bar, and may be cammed into latching position by the actuating lever. For example upon movement of the clothes rack to its folded or inoperative position, the actuating lever will move the latching bar against the bias of its spring into engagement with the latching member on the shoe supporting arm, thereby holding the arm and shoe in its closed position so that the ironer cover can be readily moved into closed position to hide the operating members and present a smooth exterior surface. Then upon movement of the clothes rack to its open position away from the ironer table top the rack cam no longer engages the actuating lever and the latch bar is free to move in response to the spring bias to release the latch.

Our invention will be better understood from the following description if taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of an automatic ironer, table, and cover, to which our invention has been applied; Fig. 2 is a section taken along the lines 22 of Fig. 1 showing the ironer with the ironer shoe in its closed position; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail sectional elevation of the clothes rack, pintle, and cam arm taken along lines 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a detail view of the cam and arm; Fig. 5 is a detail view of the latch member; and Fig. 6 is a detail view of a supporting bracket for the latch bar.

Referring now to Fig. l of the drawing, there is shown a flat plate ironer of a currently popular type, comprising a table I on which is mounted the various ironer elements. Extending upwardly through the top of the table I is a cylindrical casing 2, and mounted on a shaft, not shown, extending from the casing is a padded buck 3. Within the casing 2 is the operating mechanism for the ironer, which may be of any suitable known type. For example, the mechanism shown in Patent 2,475,304, Bariffi, which is assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present application, may be used. Arranged for cooperation with the buck 3 is .a heated shoe 4 fixed to a carriage arm 5 which in turn is pivotally mounted on a pintle 6 carried on the lower end of the casing 2. In full lines, the shoe and carriage are shown in latched position which is equivalent to the position just prior to the pressing operation. A stop member I mounted in a manner explained hereinafter may be provided on the table I and will engage the carriage arm 5 when the operating position of the shoe has been reached. Since in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 the shoe and carriage are in latched rather than operating position, the carriage 5, while near, is not in engagement with the stop member. In the dotted line position, the shoe carriage arm and shoe are shown in the open position to which they may be moved under the biasing influence of a spring, not shown. Such a spring biasing arrangement is shown in the aforementioned Barini patent, and it will be under stood that any suitable means of biasing the shoe carriage to its open position could be used.

Both to present a pleasing appearance when not in use and to prevent dust from collecting on the shoe and buck, a cover 8 may be provided which, when in its closed position, may completely enclose the buck and shoe and completely cover the top of the table I. I-Iinging means, not shown, are provided for moving the cover in and out of position, and may be one of the three types shown in the patent to George W. Wardwell, Jr., 2,198,467, for a Table for Ironers and the Like, assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee to the present application.

Another feature which we provide is a bank of clothes supporting racks 9 including a plurality of rods or bars I0, II and I2 on which clothes may be hung after pressing. In our construction, we integrate at least one rod of the clothes bank with the latch and release means for the carriage 5. In doing so, we provide for the selected rod, such as the top rod I8, to be keyed directly to a pintle I3 extending through the top of the table I. The remainder of the clothes rack bars are rotatably mounted on the said pintle I3. The pintle is provided at its upper end with an enlarged head portion I4 and a washer I5 positioned between the head and the rod I0. Between the rods IIJ and II is another washer I6, and between the rods II and I2 is still another washer I7. Below the lowermost rack I2 is a nut I8 with an hexagonal upper portion and a cylindrical threaded lower portion IQ of reduced diameter passing through the top of the table I. Between the rod I2 and the nut I3 We provide a spring washer 26 for the purpose of applying pressure to keep the assembly tight. On the underside of the top of the table I we provide another hexagonal nut 25 which may be separated from the table top by a washer 22. A third nut 23 may be applied to a threaded end portion 24 of the intle I3 and, when tightened, holds securely between it and the end I9 of the nut I8 a cam arm member 25 on which the cam 26 is carried. To assure that there will be no relative motion between cam arm 25 and the pintle I3, we provide a keyway 2! in the arm 25 and a key 28 pasing through the pintle I 3 and engaging the keyway 21.

It should be understood, of course, that there are many ways of constructing a suitable clothes rack bank and cam mounting, and the one described above and illustrated in detail in Fig. 3 is merely an example of a presently preferred arrangement.

As best seen in Fig. 1 taken in conjunction with Fig. 5, the shoe supporting arm 5, has a pivotally mounted latch member 29. It is spring biased in a counterclockwise direction by a torsion spring 36 and is prevented from rotating beyond a predetermined position, relative to the shoe carriage arm 5 by aprojecting portion or lug 3-I which is arranged to engage the carriage arm. The latch is in the general shape of a shallow U, with the two legs formed respectively at the pivot point and the free end. At the free end of the latch, the inner wall of the leg is formed substantially perpendicularly to the elongate portion of the latch, and the outer wall is curved in a gradual taper for a reason explained hereinafter.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, we provide for cooperation with the latch 29 a latch bar 32, which is slidably mounted in a bracket member 33. The free end portion 3*! of the latch bar is tapered to facilitate its entry into the recessed portion of the latch 29. Its other end is provided with a slot 35 which receives one end of a tension spring 36, the other end of which is anchored to a bracket 3! which is fixed to the table I. By means of the spring 36 the latch bar 32 is constantly urged out of engagement with the latch 29.

In order that the latch 29 and the latch bar 32 may be coupled when desired, an actuating lever 38 is provided which is pivotally mounted at 39 on the underside of the table top I. One end 40 of the actuating lever 38 passes through the slot 35 of the latch bar 32, and may be tapered to improve its camming action against the bar. The free end 4| of the actuating lever 38 xtends to a position adjacent the rack bank a where it will be engaged by the cam 26 upon movement of the clothes bar l toward its folded position above the table top, as shown in Fig. 2. As the bar It is moved further into its position as shown in Fig. 2, the cam 26 will force the free end 4| of the lever 38 to the right, thereby causing the lever to move in a counterclockwise direction. Accord" ingly, the end 43 of the actuating lever bears against the latch bar 32 and, in opposition to the bias of the spring 36, moves it laterally toward the left to the position shown in Fig. 2, in which the latch 29 and the bar 32 are coupled.

In order to provide a simple and reliable ad justment for the operating position of the carriage without affecting the relative positions of the latching members, we use the bracket 33 for more than merely a positioner for the latch bar 32. As best shown in Fig. 6, we provide at the rear of the bracket, an upstanding wall section 42 on which is mounted the carrier stop 1. We further provide two slotted holes 43 in the bracket for adjustable mounting by means of screws or bolts 44 on the under-surface of the top of the table I. For its primary purpose of positioning the latch bar 32, we provide at either end of the bracket downwardly extending walls 45 in which are cut slots 46 through which the bar 32 passes. The slots, of course, must be of sufiicient size that the bar can readily slide within them. Because of manufacturing tolerances, it is usually necessary to adjust the operating position of the carriage 5 so that the shoe 4 will be in exactly the correct position with relation to the buck 3 for the pressing operation. Small adjustments of the carriage position are made by moving the stop i forwardly or backvvardly, as necessary, which is accomplished by adjusting the position of the bracket 33 on the table i. Since the bracket 33, however, carries the latching bar 32, and the carriage 5 carries the latch 29, the proper space, relationship between the latch and latch bar is not disturbed regardless of the adjustment that might be necessary to obtain the correct operating position for the shoe 4. This construction, therefore, insures that the latching mechanism portions will remain in correct relative positions, as well as provides a simple and reliable adjustment means for the carriage 5.

In the normal operation of the ironer, the cover 8 is removed and the clothes racks or bars l0, II and ii are manually swung out to positions such as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that the finished articles of clothing can be conveniently hung thereon. This action moves the cam 26 out of engagement with the free end M of the lever 38, whereby the force of the s ring 36, being no longer opposed by the camming action of the lever end 41!, moves the latch bar 32 out of engagement with the latch 29. Since the lever end 4!! remains in the latch bar slot 35 it is also moved in response to the spring force. Accordingly a stop member 4'! may be provided on the underside of the top of the table I to limit the movement of the lever in response to the spring bias. By properly positioning the member 41 the latch bar 32 may be withdrawn from the latch 29 but its latching end 34 not withdrawn from either of the slots 46 in the bracket 33. Consequently, the bar will remain positioned in the bracket so that it will be properly guided when used again.

As soon as the latch is released, the carriage '5 and shoe 4 fall away from the buck to the dotted line position of Fig. 1, so that the operator can place clothes to be pressed upon the buck and properly position them before beginning the first ironing operation. As the clothes are pressed, the operator can then hang them on any one of the clothes supporting bars I, H or it which, because of the freely rotatable mounting of the bars l l and [2 on the pintle [3, can be separated as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

When the ironing operation has been completed, the operator may latch the carriage into its closed position, for the purpose of replacing the cover, by either of two methods. She can pull the shoe forward to move the carriage into the full line position of Fig. 1 and then, with her other hand, turn the rack bars clockwise to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2. This action, as previously explained, cams the actuating lever 38 so that the latch bar 22 is pushed to the left, through the guide slots 45, until the end 3 passes into the depression of the latch 2? thereby locking the carriage arm in place. Although not necessary, if properly dimensioned, the end 34 is tapered so that it will push the free end portion of the pivoted latch 28 into position for receiving the wider part of the bar 32, when the latching method just described is used. if the operator prefers, however, she may instead close the clothes supporting racks first, which action moves to the left the bar 32, and then pull the shoe and carriage 5 forward. to its closed position. 'I'hereupon, the tapered free end of the latch 29 is first cammed downwardly and then, under the urging of the spring 39, is returned to the position shown, in Fig. l, in latching engagement with the bar. While not essential, the taper on the free end of the latch 23 greatly facilitates this camming action.

While we have shown a particular embodiment of our invention, it will be understood, of course, that we do not wish to be limited thereto, since many modifications may be made; and we therefore contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of our invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A releasable latching arrangement comprising a supporting structure, a rotatable pintle mounted on said supporting structure, a rod fixed to said pintle, cam means fixed to said pintle, an actuating lever pivotally mounted on said supporting structure having a free end positioned for engagement by said cam means, a latch bar slidably mounted on said supporting structure, said latch bar being engaged by said actuating lever, biasing means connected to said latch bar for biasing it in one direction, said cam means being operative upon rotation of said rod from its extended to its closed position to turn said actuating lever to move said latch bar against said biasing means, a swingable member supported on said structure for movement from an open to a closed position, and a latch member mounted on said swingable member for engagement with said latch bar upon movement of said bar by said lever, whereby upon movement of said swingable member and said rod to said respective closed positions said latch and latch bar are coupled to restrain said swingable memher from return to its open position.

2. A releasable latching arrangement comprising a supporting structure, a rotatable pintle mounted on said supporting structure, a rod fixed to said pintle, cam means fixed to said pintle, an actuating lever pivotally mounted on said supporting structure having an end positioned to beengaged by said cam means, a iatch bar slidably mounted on said supporting struc ture, said latch bar being connected to said actuating lever, biasing means connected to said latch bar for biasing it in one direction, said cam means being operative upon rotation of said rod from its extendedto its closed position to move said actuating lever in a direction opposing the bias of said latch bar biasing means to move said latch bar against said biasing means, a swingable member supported on said structure and movable from an open to a closed position, a latch member pivotally mounted on said swingable member, and biasing means connected to said latch member for biasing it to a position for coupling it with said latch bar whereby upon movement of said swingable member and said rod to said respective closed positions said latch member and latch bar are coupled to restrain said swingable member from return to its open position.

3. The combination according to claim 2 in which the forward end of said latch member is curved to present an inclined surface to cam the free end of the latch bar upwardly and itself downwardly to couple said member and said bar upon movement of said swingable member from its open to its closed position.

4. The combination according to claim 2 in which the latch member is provided with an extended portion engageable with the swingable member to limit the movement of said latch memboy in response to said biasing means.

5. In an ironing machine, a supporting table, a buck, a pivotally mounted shoe carriage, a shoe carried on said carriage, latch means including a latch carried by said carriage, and a latch bar movably supported on said table, a clothes rack supported on said table and movable to an extended position for receiving clothes, a cam connected to and movable by said clothes rack, means actuated by said cam upon movement of said rack to its closed position operative to move said latch bar into engagement with said latch, and

means operative upon movement of said rack to its extended position to move said latch bar out of engagement with said latch.

6. A latch and release device for an ironer shoe carriage comprising a rotatable pintle, an ironer table, said pintle being mounted on said table, a laundry supporting rod fixed to said pintle and rotatable therewith between extended and closed positions, cam means fixed to said pintle, an actuating lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said ironer table having a free end positioned for engagement by said cam means, a latch bar slidably mounted on said table, said latch bar being connected to said actuating lever, biasing means connected to said latch bar for biasing it to an inoperative position, said cam means being operative upon rotation of said laundry supporting rod from its extended to its closed position to move said actuating lever in a. direction opposing the bias of said latch bar biasing means to move said latch bar to its operative position, and a latch member mounted on said ironer shoe carriage for engagement with said latch bar upon movement of said carriage to a predetermined position and movement of said latch bar to its operative position.

7. In an ironing machine, an ironer table, an ironer shoe, a shoe carriage for said ironer shoe pivotally mounted on said table, bracket means, adjustable means connecting said bracket means to said table, positioning means on said bracket means engageable with said arm to position said. s hoe, a latch member carried by said arm, a latch bar engageable with said latch member, and means including said bracket means for slidably supporting and positionin said latch bar, said bracket adjusting means serving to permit of adjustment of said bracket means to simultaneously adjust the position of said latch bar and said positioning means.

8. In an ironing machine, a supporting table, a buck on the table, a shoe supporting arm pivotally mounted on said table, a shoe carried by said arm, a bracket member, adjustable means connecting the bracket member to said table, stop means carried by said bracket member and engageable by said arm to limit the forward movement of said arm to position said shoe, a latch member carried by said arm, and a latch bar slidably supported by said bracket member and engageable with said latch member, said adjusting means permitting of the adjustment of said bracket member to simultaneously adjust the position of said stop means and said latch bar, and means for moving said latch bar into and out of latch engaging position.

9. In an ironing machine having an ironer table and cooperating pressing members, a carriage for one of said pressing members pivotally mounted on said table, means biasing said carriage to an open position removed from said table, said carriage being movable to a closed position adjacent said table, a latch member mounted on said carriage, a latch bar movably mounted on the ironer table engageable with said latch member to hold said carriage in substantially its closed position, a laundry rack mounted on said table for movement to an extended and to a closed position, and operating means connected to said latch bar and rack responsive to movement of said rack for engaging and disengaging said latch bar and said latch member.

10. The combination according to claim 9 in References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Wardwell, Jr Apr. 23, 1940 Number 

